Presbyterian Church

Source: Beckwith, HW. History of Fountain County, Indiana., Chicago: 
HH Hill, 1881, p. 114 (Troy Township).

Contributed by Rev. John M. BISHOP.

The Presbyterian Church was organized in Covington with 15 members, 
Rev. Edmund O. HOVEY and Rev. Enoch KINGSBURY June 9, 1832. 
James Long and Dnaiel McLain were the first elders. E.O. Hovey was 
born in East Hanover, New Hampshire, July 15, 1801 and died at 
Crawfordsville, Indiana, March 10, 1877. He came to Fountain County in 
1831, and after a few months of pastoral work became one of the 
founders of Wabash COllege, and was onnected with it until his death. 
His biography is an important part of the history of that institution. 
E. KINGSBURY was born in Langdon, New Hampshire in 1800. Came to 
Danville, Illinoisn in 1830 and died in that city in 1868. For nearly 40 
years he was a most faithful minister and an influential member of 
society. He says of his early labors: "I preached in all kinds of places; 
shops, sheds, barns, dwelling houses, school houses, court houses, and 
in the woods, for 3 years before I preached in a meeting house of any 
description west of the Wabash. Nor was I kept in a corner, or limited in 
my field of labor. Few men have wandered over a wider field while 
residing in one place than I have. The best of houses have been open to 
me, and yet from the close of 1830 till the commencment of 1834 I 
preahed in no house west of the Wabash, erected for the worship of God. 
The first that I did preach in was the one I now occupy, built upon my 
own lot, mostly upon my own plan, and under my supervision, answering 
for many years the double purpose for schools and meetings." The above 
is an extract from a letter of Father Kingsbury, written at Danville, Illinois 
in 1849.

File Created: Oct 06, 2007